Review of Mountain Biking for Women

This book is intended for the beginning woman mountain biker and
attempts to educate her from the ground up. The presentation of the
material is done in a sensible order. All the important topics are
covered, and there is no duplication. The advice is given in a
friendly straightforward manner, without annoying "hip dude" slang.
This book can do a lot to encourage the woman rider.

Much of the advice is very good indeed. The sections on riding
technique, nutrition, hydration, and finding ride partners and places
to ride are excellent. In addition, the advice is presented in a way
that women can really relate to. Women tend a be less macho than men,
and the authors do a good job at reassuring the woman biker that this
is OK, despite pressures from male riders who often seem to emphasize
speed and daring.

Unfortunately, much of the advice is out of date and thus not very
helpful. The book was written 7 years ago. Mountain bike equipment has
changed quite a bit since then, and much of what the modern mountain
biker takes for granted is not mentioned. Your average cross country
mountain biker will have at least front suspension, use clipless
pedals, and wear a hydration pack. However, the authors seem to assume
that you've bought a rigid bike, and that you would only get
suspension forks as an upgrade. And then it goes into the internals of
the types of forks available at that time, which doesn't leave the
reader very well prepared for the modern fork market. Hydration packs
aren't mentioned; I guess they weren't around then. Clipless pedals
are mentioned, but are given less space than toe clips and only a bit
more space than the now defunct Power Strap.

By far the worst section is "Your Bike Size". First, they state that
standover height is how you know if the bike is your size or not,
completely disregarding the effective top tube length of the bike,
which together with the stem determines the reach to the bars. And
then they suggest that you know you've got the right size when your
crotch is at least two inches higher than the intersection of the top
tube with the head tube. This doesn't work at all for short women on
modern bikes with suspension forks. They do mention reach, but only to
suggest that you should swap the standard 135mm length stem for a
"short" 120mm stem. Given the prevalance of short stems nowadays, and
the availability of bikes specifically for women which have short top
tubes, this advice is pretty much useless.

In summary, although this book has some good sections, much of the
information on equipment is way out of date. This will be a big
hindrance to a woman starting out in mountain biking.

Jennifer Kulier's
Women's Mountain Biking is a much more useful
book. Although riding techniques aren't covered as well as they are in
Mountain Biking For Women, everything else is given as good or better
treatment in Kulier's book. In particular, in Kulier's book the
equipment info is up to date and sensible, and the important subject
of bike fit is properly covered.